does not very readily make a calculation of several actual or contingent elements. Now this kind of practical science has very important and extensive consequences in all the operations of life; and it may surprise my reader to be informed, that it is much less common among the French, even in Europe, than he would be disposed to imagine." Emigrants.] The British government has long been endeavouring to direct the current of our surplus population at home towards the unsettled districts of Upper Canada. We feel highly interested in the success of these endeavours, for the question is not confined to the merely ridding the United Kingdom of a surplus population, but it regards the placing of these people in such a relative situation as that they will shortly become contributers to the wealth of the mother country. "With perhaps a few exceptions," says an intelligent settler, "there will not be a family so sent out, when ample scope is given to their labour and industry, but will, in the space of two or three years, be enabled to clothe their families with English manufactures. I have witnessed this effect so strikingly, particularly among the destitute Scotch labourers who have come to this country, that I am warranted in drawing the above conclusion. It is idle to say, because England derives no advantage from direct taxation, that the Canadas are useless to her. Every additional ship employed in this trade increases her commercial greatness, and, what is of equal consequence, enlarges the nursery of her seamen." Some years ago, government, besides granting each person a certain portion of land, allowed a free passage across the Atlantic, and provisions and agricultural implements to each emigrant for one year; but, with the exception of a free grant of 100 acres of land, these encouragements are all now withheld. Indian Population.] In the foregoing account of the population of Canada, the original natives are not included. As the country is far from being completely settled, the ground already laid out in farms being only about one-tenth of that still lying in woods, the number of Indians found here must greatly exceed those within the confines of the United States. Great numbers of small tribes are scattered among the uncultivated parts of this country, as they are in every part of the North American continent. All the various tribes of Indians inhabiting the British possessions in North America, and the back settlements of the United States, have a strong resemblance to each other, in their general manners and customs. Their progress in civilization-if one may so speak, where so little progress has actually been made-is everywhere the same; they are all in that primary state of society, which by philosophers has been called the state of hunters. It is certainly a mysterious fact, that a race of men should thus have continued for ages stationary in a state of the rudest barbarism, without exhibiting, notwithstanding their intercourse with Europeans, the slightest tendency to improvement. Commerce.] Canada is a country of considerable trade: possessing not only the advantages of a direct commercial intercourse with the mother-country, and, by means of the latter, with the United States, but also that of supplying our West India settlements with grain and timber, in which a very active trade is carried on, and West India produce received in return. The chief articles of the Canadian trade are furs, peltries, timber, wheat, flour, biscuit, flax-seed, and lumber of various kinds, fish, potash, oil, ginseng, and other medicinal roots. In return it receives rum, coarse cloth, linen, muslins, silks, furniture, wrought iron, brandy, molasses, coffee, sugar, wines, tobacco, salt, chocolate, dry goods, and pro visions for the troops; besides, for trading with the Indians, it receives guns, powder, balls, flints, kettles, hatchets, toys, and trinkets of various kinds. In 1806, the tonnage employed in the trade of the colony amounted to 33,996; in 1807, to 42,293; in 1808, to 70,275; in 1810, to 143,893. About 700 sail of vessels now annually proceed up the river St Lawrence, and as many nearly to the ports on the shores of the gulf. In 1825, 1800 sail of vessels ascended the St Lawrence. Timber Trade.] There are annually about 600 timber freights to this country; a ship performs about two voyages annually, and, consequently, this trade occupies about 300 ships. The value of the saw-mills is estimated at about £150,000. The winter of Canada, during which the timber is felled and hewn, is a season of the most intense and piercing cold. The rivers down which it has to be conveyed are broad, and in many places rapid, and in all places dangerous for the navigation of timber-rafts. On the opening of spring, the timber is immediately launched into the water, and there bound together in separate portions, or cribs as they are called; these separate cribs are also bound together, and form what are called rafts. These huge masses of timber float down the St Lawrence and the Utawa at the mercy of the winds and waves, which often in one half hour irrecoverably disperse the labour of a whole year. The St Lawrence and the Utawa are continually interrupted by rapids occasioned by sudden and great falls in the bed of the river, and are also constantly spreading out into small lakes of from 30 to 40 miles in breadth, which, even during a slight breeze are extremely hazardous to so unwieldy a machine as a timber-raft. The navigation is consequently so dangerous as to make the safe arrival of a raft at Quebec a matter of equal uncertainty with a prize in the lottery; and it is estimated that one-third of the timber annually rafted is lost. The master lumber-man is usually a small farmer, who, having stores and money advanced by the merchants of Montreal, or the storekeepers of Quebec, neglects and mortgages his farm to try his fortune in a timber speculation; this man is nothing more than the master-labourer. The sufferings that this man and his fellow-labourers undergo in their occupation are incredible. In the depth of the immense forests of Canada, in the most intense cold, the thermometer generally ranging between 10 and 30 degrees below zero, in a rudely constructed hut, made of logs and bark, through which every breath of wind penetrates, do these men pass the whole of the winter. The moment that spring arrives, and the rivers are thawed, they have to pass whole days in the water, employed in binding the timber together. To sustain the cold, they drink raw spirits in quantities which would startle the hardiest European topers.When the raft is prepared, and the rivers completely thawed, it has to be navigated to Quebec; and now another mode of life begins, and a new course of evils follows. One of them is the almost invariable loss of health: no one ever yet saw an aged raftsman. The intensity of the cold, the long immersions in the water, the excessive use of ardent spirits, and the burning sun of a Canadian summer, would destroy the hardiest constitution that ever existed. Another evil is the sudden transition from great exertion to a state of absolute idleness. A raft may be wind-bound for weeks, and the men cannot be dismissed. Accustomed at one time to strong excitement, he cannot pass to a state of listlessness and inactivity; he must have some other excitement, and hence he almost certainly becomes a gambler. Another and a most serious evil is this, that they live in absolute impunity, continually passing from one part of the country to another, on a broad and rapid river, where it is almost impossible to find them; and living in large bodies, it is impossible to distinguish the culprit among forty or fifty persons, all perhaps equally guilty; they cannot be made amenable to the laws. "A raftsman," say the Canadians, "is usually possessed, at the end of the summer, of a ruined constitution, spendthrift habits, a blue pair of trowsers, and an umbrella." Extraordinary gains are occasionally realized in the timber trade; and these lucky adventures of the fortunate are usually contemplated by the young speculator, who disregards the thousands who have been ruined by the same business. It is now pretty generally acknowledged, that the protection which is given to colonial timber by the mother country is injudicious. In the first place, it costs Britain not less than £1,000,000 per annum. In the second place, it compels us, as we have already seen, to use timber of an inferior quality; and thirdly, it is not true that the encouragement of this trade is a means of clearing the country. For pine and oak form only about one ten-thousandth part of a Canadian forest, and not one oak or pine in 500 is worth felling. Government.] Canada, when under the dominion of France, was governed by a viceroy appointed by the French king, and were subject to the laws, or customs of Paris,' as they were called.5 The political establishment of the colonies at present is similar in its great outlines to that of the other North American colonies before the revolution." Canada is governed by a lieutenant or governor appointed by the king, assisted by a legislative council and house of assembly; the former answering to the house of lords, the latter to the house of commons in the British constitution. The governor represents his majesty, and in that capacity gives or refuses his assent to bills originating either in the council or assembly. This assent or refusal must be signified within two years of the time when the bill is presented. The governor is obliged to transmit to the secretary of state copies of such bills as have been passed; and his majesty may confirm or annul them, within two years after the official information. If no notification is made, the bill is understood to be confirmed. The members of the legislative union, or upper house, are summoned by the governor under the king's authority. They are 22 in number, 7 for Upper, and 15 for Lower Canada. These members continue in office during life, unless their place is forfeited by four years continued absence, or swearing allegiance to a foreign power. The house of assembly, or lower house of parliament, consists of not less than 66 members; 16 for Upper, and 50 for Lower Canada; who are chosen by the freeholders in the towns and counties. In the counties, the 5 By these customs of Paris,' the lords, poor as they were, holding immediately of the crown, gave out portions of their seignories to other lords, who again gave out to others some of these lands, all which were subdivided into such small parts as not to be capable of further severance; and so these lands have descended ever since, so that now these subdivisions of property are a source of the greatest difficulty. One may read in a Canada newspaper an advertisement offering for sale 1-300th part of one of these lordships. It is quite a common thing to see and hear of a third of a seventh, or of a half of a sixth, and so on in such a way as makes it quite impossible for any one to know what suit, or service, or fines, he is to owe. Each possession owes various services as corn to be ground at such a person's mill, with numerous other rights, liabilities, and duties, all of a most vexatious description. The government of Canada was fixed by royal proclamations, by certain ordinances of the English governors, by 14 Geo. III. c. 83, and at length by the celebrated Quebec bill, 31 Geo. III. c. 31. 311 electors must be possessed of landed property yielding a revenue of 40 shillings or upwards; and, in the towns, must possess a dwelling-house and plot of ground, to the yearly value of £5 sterling; or must have paid, for one year at least, a rent of £10 sterling per annum. Canada, includes nearly every active male. This, in The legislative council and house of assembly must meet at least once every year; and the same assembly continues four years, unless sooner dissolved by the governor. the same as in the British parliament: every matter is decided by a The forms of business are nearly majority of votes. His majesty has power to authorize the governor to appoint the time and place of the meetings of the council and assembly, and to prorogue or dissolve them when he shall think proper. These are powers, however, which are seldom exerted. The governors of the particular provinces are only lieutenants, subject to the control of a governor-general, appointed to direct the affairs of British America. In the absence of the governor-general, the lieutenants are invested with all his powers in their respective provinces. The governor-general is commander-in-chief of all the British forces in these provinces. The governors of provinces, with certain members of the council nominated by the king, form a court of civil jurisdiction, for the determination of important causes and appeals. Their judgment, however, is not final, and an appeal may be made to their superiors in Britain. Disputes concerning property are determined by the laws of Canada : criminal matters are determined by the English laws. Revenue.] The ordinary revenue of Lower Canada amounts to about £35,000 sterling, which goes to defray the ordinary expense of the civil government. Nearly the same sum is yearly collected under temporary acts of the provincial legislature for various purposes, such as building courthouses, jails, &c. The military expense of the province is defrayed by the British government. The entire annual cost of maintaining Upper Canada is nearly £500,000. Religion. When under the dominion of France, the inhabitants of Canada universally professed the Roman Catholic religion, and the Jesuits were possessed of immense wealth in this country. In 1793, his Britannic Majesty erected the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada into a bishop's see; there are not, however, above 20 clergymen of the established church in both provinces. New settlers repairing to Canada are encouraged by government to take out with them ministers of whatever denomination they choose; and 100 acres of ground is appropriated by government for the support of every such minister, which is cultivated for him by his flock. In Lower Canada, the great majority of the inhabitants profess the Roman Catholic religion. The annual expense of the ecclesiastical establishments in Lower Canada is about £6,500. bishop of Quebec has £2,000; the Catholic archbishop at Quebec, £1,000; the ministers of the Presbyterian churches at Quebec and Montreal, £50 each; and their brethren at Argentuil, £100. The Its forti CHIEF TOWNS.] The capital of the lower province and of British widens to the extent of four or five leagues. It has a safe commodious harbour just opposite to the town, the general depth of which is about 5 fathoms. This harbour is defended by two bastions, 25 feet high, which is about the height of their highest tides. The number of inhabitants is said to be about 22,000. It sends four representatives to the assembly. From Quebec to Montreal, a distance, by the river, of 180 miles, captain Hall remarks, " may be called one long village. On either shore a stripe of land, seldom exceeding a mile in breadth, bordered by aboriginal forests, and thickly studded by low browed farm-houses, white washed from top to bottom, to which a long barn and stables are attached, and commonly a neat plot of garden-ground represents all that is inhabited of Lower Canada." Montreal.] Montreal is situated on an island of the same name in the river St Lawrence. This island is about 10 miles in length, and 4 in breadth; and has been brought into an excellent state of cultivation. On the south shore, about a mile and a half from the water, stands the city. It is regularly built, in the form of an oblong square, and must be allowed to be a handsome city. While in possession of the French, it was surrounded with fortifications, to defend it from incursions of the Indians, and the English, to which it was often liable; but of late the ramparts have been levelled, and the ground they occupied laid out in streets, and filled up with elegant buildings. Montreal is the centre of Canadian commerce, and the emporium of the North-west company. In the Montreal Gazette, we find the following comparative statement of arrivals, tonnage, and settlers, to the 24th of September, 1828, and the same date of 1829: About half-way between Quebec and Montreal stands Trois Rivieres, so called from being situated at the confluence of three rivers. By these rivers many Indians proceed to this town, and exchange their furs for such commodities as they want. The country here is fertile and well-inhabited. There are now steam boats which ply between Quebec and Montreal. Kingston.] Upper Canada has been lately divided into 10 districts, and nearly 300 townships. The chief town in the upper province is Kingston, situated at the mouth of a deep bay, at the north-eastern extremity of Lake Ontario; it contains a fort and barracks, is a place of considerable trade, and is augmenting rapidly in size. All the goods necessary for the support of the upper country are here put in store previously to being sent across the lakes, and here is the emporium for the fur-trade from the various ports on the nearer lakes. The principal merchants resident here, are partners of old established houses at Montreal and Quebec. Newark.] Niagara (now Newark) was formerly the capital of the upper province, since removed to York. It is situated on the banks of the river of the same name, about 50 yards from the water's edge; the quantity of furs collected here is considerable, and the neighbourhood being populous, a pretty brisk trade is carried on. The falls of Niagara are distant 18 miles from the town; on the road to the falls, about midway, is situated Queenstown, at the foot of the heights. On the right there is an unbroken succession of luxuriant orchards, corn fields, and farm houses. York.] York is situated on the northern side of the Lake Ontario, about 100 miles from Kingston, and being the seat of government for the |